Reports In China Call For Military To Develop Space Capabilities
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Beijing, China (AHN) - A group of independent military analysts said on Wednesday that the outer space is slowly emerging as the next possible theater of operations for the People's Liberation Army of China to defend the nation's interest. The analysis, which was published in the People's Daily on Wednesday, was given by a group of unidentified military experts at the National Defense University. They said outer space is an area where China's army must be equipped and prepared to defend against future threats. The report said, "Our military should not only protect China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but should also protect the oceans and transport routes and other economic interests as well as ... the security of space." Last month, the Study Times, a newspaper published by the Communist Party's Central Party School, also made the same proposal. The paper said, "We should strive to develop coordinated land, sea, air and space systems." Observers say such a move would be a departure from its conventional spending, which currently does not account for space operations beyond their scientific space program. In 2004, the government white paper on defense made little reference to space and has not pushed it as a possible theater of operations for the military. Instead, the paper was trying to prevent an expensive arms race in spa |
